Milestones: 1776–1783

Articles of Confederation, 1777–1781

The Articles of Confederation served as the written document that established the
functions of the national government of the United States after it declared
independence from Great Britain. It established a weak central government that
mostly, but not entirely, prevented the individual states from conducting their
own foreign diplomacy.

The Articles of Confederation

The Albany Plan, an earlier, pre-independence attempt at joining the colonies
into a larger union, had failed in part because the individual colonies were
concerned about losing power to another central institution. However, as the
American Revolution gained momentum, many political leaders saw the advantages
of a centralized government that could coordinate the Revolutionary War. In June
of 1775, the New York provincial Congress sent a plan of union to the
Continental Congress, which, like the Albany Plan, continued to recognize the
authority of the British Crown.

Some Continental Congress delegates had also informally discussed plans for a
more permanent union than the Continental Congress, whose status was temporary.
Benjamin Franklin had drawn up a plan for “Articles of Confederation and
Perpetual Union.” While some delegates, such as Thomas Jefferson, supported
Franklin’s proposal, many others were strongly opposed. Franklin introduced his
plan before Congress on July 21, but stated that it should be viewed as a draft
for when Congress was interested in reaching a more formal proposal. Congress
tabled the plan.

Following the Declaration of Independence, the members of the Continental
Congress realized that it would be necessary to set up a national government.
Congress began to discuss the form this would take on July 22, and disagreed on
a number of issues, including whether representation and voting would be
proportional or state-by-state. The disagreements delayed final discussions of
confederation until October of 1777. By then, the British capture of
Philadelphia had made the issue more urgent. Delegates finally formulated the
Articles of Confederation, in which they agreed to state-by-state voting and
proportional state tax burdens based on land values, though they left the issue
of state claims to western lands unresolved. Congress sent the Articles to the
states for ratification at the end of November. Most delegates realized that the
Articles were a flawed compromise, but believed that it was better than an
absence of formal national government.

Virginia was the first state to ratify on December 16, 1777, while other states
ratified in 1778. When congress reconvened in June of 1778, the delegates
learned that Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey refused to ratify the Articles.
The Articles required unanimous approval from the states. These smaller states
wanted other states to relinquish their western land claims before they would
ratify the Articles, New Jersey and Delaware eventually agreed to the conditions
of the Articles, with New Jersey ratifying them on Nov 20, 1778 and Delaware on
Feb 1, 1779. This left Maryland as the last remaining holdout.

Irked by Maryland’s recalcitrance, several other state governments passed
resolutions endorsing the formation of a national government without the state
of Maryland, but other politicians such as Congressman Thomas
Burke of North Carolina persuaded their governments to refrain
from doing so, arguing that without unanimous approval of the new Confederation,
the new country would remain weak, divided, and open to future foreign
intervention and manipulation.

Meanwhile, in 1780, British forces began to conduct raids on Maryland communities
in the Chesapeake Bay. Alarmed, the state government wrote to the French
minister Anne-César De la Luzerne asking for French naval
assistance. Luzerne wrote back, urging the government of Maryland to ratify the
Articles of Confederation. Marylanders were given further incentive to ratify
when Virginia agreed to relinquish its western land claims, and so the Maryland
legislature ratified the Articles of Confederation on March 1, 1781.

French minister Anne-César De la Luzerne

The Continental Congress voted on Jan 10, 1781, to establish a Department of
Foreign Affairs; on Aug 10 of that year, it elected Robert R. Livingston as
Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The Secretary’s duties involved corresponding with
U.S. representatives abroad and with ministers of foreign powers. The Secretary
was also charged with transmitting Congress’ instructions to U.S. agents abroad
and was authorized to attend sessions of Congress. A further Act of Feb 22,
1782, allowed the Secretary to ask and respond to questions during sessions of
the Continental Congress.

The Articles created a sovereign, national government, and as such limited the
rights of the states to conduct their own diplomacy and foreign policy. However,
in practice this proved difficult to enforce, and the state of Georgia pursued
its own independent policy regarding Spanish Florida, attempting to occupy
disputed territories and threatening war if Spanish officials did not work to
curb Indian attacks or refrain from harboring escaped slaves. Nor could the
Confederation government prevent the landing of convicts that the British
Government continued to export to its former colonies. The Articles also did not
allow Congress sufficient authority to compel the states to enforce provisions
of the 1783 Treaty of Paris that allowed British creditors to sue debtors for
pre-Revolutionary debts, an unpopular clause that many state governments chose
to ignore. Consequently, British forces continued to occupy forts in the Great
Lakes region. These problems, combined with the Confederation government’s
ineffectual response to Shays’ Rebellion in Massachusetts, convinced colonial
leaders that a more powerful central government was necessary. This led to the
Constitutional Convention that formulated the current Constitution of the United
States.